METRO MANILA’S FRONTLINERS DISASTER EMERGENCIES IN

By Patricia Taculao

DUE to the Philippines’ location in the Pacific Typhoon Belt, an average of 20 typhoons enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) annually. In the past two weeks, parts of the country experienced heavy rainfall and strong winds from Typhoons Egay and Falcon.

Metro Manila was not exempted from these weather conditions as oods lled the streets and threatened residents’ safety. Fortunately, they weren’t left to fend for themselves as responders in o ce addressed their concerns.

Yet although the national government makes numerous e orts to safeguard Filipinos during natural disasters, they don’t always act rst.

According to the 1991 Local Government Code, local government units (LGUs) must be at the frontline of emergency measures in disaster aftermaths to secure their constituents’ general welfare and supervise preparations and responses to natural calamities and human induced-disasters.

Their role as rst responders prompts them to proactively perform disaster-related activities, from preemptive evacuation to restoring people’s livelihoods.

In the past weeks, various Metro Manila LGUs leveraged their online platforms to keep their constituents updated about the weather advisory, with some also monitoring ooding in numerous areas of their jurisdiction a ected by the extreme weather conditions. On the other hand, some LGUs tapped into their resources to o er further assistance to the Filipinos a ected by the typhoons’ impact.

For instance, the city government of Manila, through the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management O ce (DRRMO), o ered free transportation to help commuters travel through a speci ed route and keep them safe from the ood in those areas.

Another initiative from the Manila government is cleaning mounds of trash across the streets of Manila to prevent its build-up that could worsen ooding within the city.

Since ooding also a ects tra c ow, delaying vehicles from one point to another, some LGUs in Metro Manila opted to speak with other institutions to create better solutions.

Last Monday, July 31, Caloocan

City Mayor Dale Gonzalo “Along” Malapitan met with representatives from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) to discuss possible resolutions to the ongoing ooding issues in Quirino Highway.

Even though Malapitan recognizes DPWH’s responsibility in maintaining national highways, he stepped in due to the inconvenience and possible danger it poses to residents in nearby areas. In the meantime, he instructed the Caloocan City Engineering Department to conduct dredging and similar activities to help alleviate the ooding in said area.

The Navotas city government took a similar route of keeping their